80’s
Labels paid money to run ads and the audience came with the time slot.

Today
The ad is free to run. Post your post, upload your video. Free.

80’s
We had a mailing list. Sometimes it would take weeks for mail to arrive.

Today
It takes seconds for a message to arrive and we look at the numbers on social media.

80’s
We did the hard work of building up a local fan base, city by city

Today
We want to take over the world in an instant.

80’s
The labels and the media measured attention via sales of recorded music.

Today
Well, attention is measure by likes, shares, views, streams, sales of physical, sales of digital, sales of tickets and so forth.

80’s
We looked for a record deal and the belief that fame and riches would follow.

Today
We know that there is no single solution. We know how record labels ripped off the artists.

80’s
We had two paths of getting our music out. The record label path or the do it yourself path.

Today
We have hundreds of paths for pushing our music out. We just need to work harder at it.

80’s
We didn’t know what a business strategy was.

Today
If you don’t have a business strategy, you are already behind the eight ball.

80’s
MTV was king.

Today
YouTube is king.

80’s
The entertainment industry could get away with creating laws to benefit their business model and then sponsoring politicians to get their laws passed.

Today
There is customer push back. SOPA and PIPA got squashed because the customers protested.

80’s
To discover new music, we needed to rely on a knowledgeable record store operator, gatekeepers, radio and expensive import magazines.

Today
We don’t know when new music comes out? There is just too much noise. Spotify Release Friday is one avenue. We have Google, YouTube, Bandcamp, Sound Cloud, Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, blogs and many more.

80’s
We only had one home phone.

Today
We have smart mobile phones and a lot of other tech devices. We are connected 24/7.

80’s
Artists are the rock and pop stars

Today
Techies have the same adulation as the 80’s rock and pop stars

80’s
Pablo and Colombia was the king of cocaine trafficking

Today
It’s Mexico

80’s
CD’s are seen as angels to the record label CEO’s.

Today
Streaming was seen as the devil and then the monies came in and the record label CEO’s are happy again.

80’s
When you wanted to learn something or check something you went to the library or you purchased a book/manual.

Today
You Google.

80’s
Our rite of passage was to own a car. Without wheels, you didn’t even exist.